Ray Lewis Prediction of Crime and NFL Lockout Correlation Disputed

It was not that long ago when linebacker Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens told the media that the NFL lockout would increase the level of crime in the nation. Maybe it is because Lewis believes the media and it's take on sports. Or maybe it is that Lewis is simply another sports figure whose ego has been fed too much by the media. Claiming that the lack of an NFL season will result in more people committing crime is ludicrous since it presumes that that is the only activity Americans engage in during the fall and winter season every year. Unlike people such as my husband and myself who do not watch sports, an NFL lockout certainly would not affect us in the least.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's PolitiFact Group stated there is simply no historical precedent for Lewis's claim and went so far as to actually research any possible basis for it. It turns out that the Northeastern's Sport in Society center provided the required information '" or lack of information, as it may be '" to the AJC. Since there is no proof on Lewis's statement, considering that in recent sports history, American families did not base their lives around spots so much as the media might have you think. The trouble in this case is that having a life outside of sports does allow one to think, and not in the sense of looking to sports figures to do the thinking for them, either. Not everyone thinks sports figures should be emulated, and that is a good thing.

Lewis went so far as to state that "too many people live through us [football players]", implying that they do not have lives at all. Maybe that is true for some people in the United States, and that would explain why the media capitalizes on sports so much. There are in fact many more people who do not live their lives through sports and would prefer to engage in some other activity that actually helps one to grow as an individual, such as reading or learning another language. And as for traditional seasonal activities, well, there is no shortage of those as far as Lewis is concerned.

For example, as soon as the NFL season begins, which is in September, most families are sending their children back to school. Instead of those NFL Monday nights, Mom and Dad can be helping their children do homework or read a story together. If the homework is all done, they can play a classic board game together such as Stratego or Monopoly.

As for traditional things to do during the fall season, hiking, bicycling, gardening are just a few healthy activities instead of sitting in front of the television set waiting for a football game to appear. Then there is Thanksgiving, and of course all kinds of fun activities to do in the snow that Dad can take part with the kids when the NFL lockout is in full force, such as building snow forts or making angels. Quality family time is for many people more all-American than the NFL.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Research-group-calls-out-Ray-Lewis-8217-lockou?urn=nfl-wp2710

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Ray-Lewis-thinks-crime-will-increase-with-no-NFL?urn=nfl-wp2110